Oral Answers to Questions

Flick Drummond Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and we seek to build on that by delivering affordable homes, including starter homes for first-time buyers, and making sure we increase supply. We have seen the increases over the last few years, and the recent figure of some 261,000 homes getting planning approval last year is pretty much a record level, and is a good sign that we have got the market moving in the right direction. We intend to build on that, and will do so.

[Mrs Flick Drummond (Portsmouth South) (Con)]

3. What steps he is taking to ensure that local councils provide adequate support and assistance to single homeless people when they approach their council for help.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Marcus Jones)]

By law, local authorities have a duty to provide advice and information to anyone asking for help. To help them discharge that important duty we have, among other sources of support, funded the National Homelessness Advice Service supporting frontline staff, together with the Help for Single Homeless funding, helping 22,000 people across England by April 2016.

[Mrs Drummond]

Housing is a big issue in my crowded city of Portsmouth and figures show that the number of people in priority-need has increased over recent years. What steps has the Minister taken to ensure that there is good advice and assistance to the homeless?

[Mr Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I know that she took a keen interest in this issue before she entered the House. We provided more than £500,000 in homelessness prevention grant funding to Portsmouth Council back in 2013-14, and the council was able to use it to prevent 1,021 households from becoming homeless. We are providing a further £550,000 to Portsmouth for the same purpose this year. I am certainly not complacent, however, and I can assure my hon. Friend that I want to work with local authorities to build on best practice. I shall also be meeting representatives of Crisis next month to discuss what more can be done to improve services for homeless people.